PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Chloe A. Fouilloux AU - Shirley Jennifer Serrano-Rojas AU - Juan David Carvajal-Castro AU - Janne K. Valkonen AU - Philippe Gaucher AU - Marie-Therese Fischer AU - Andrius PaĊĦukonis AU - Bibiana Rojas TI - Pool choice in a vertical landscape: tadpole rearing site flexibility in phytotelm-breeding frogs AID - 10.1101/2021.03.10.434757 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2021.03.10.434757 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/03/11/2021.03.10.434757.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/03/11/2021.03.10.434757.full AB - Many species of Neotropical frogs have evolved to deposit their tadpoles in small water bodies inside plant structures called phytotelmata. These pools are small enough to exclude large predators but have limited nutrients and high desiccation risk. Here, we explore phytotelm use by three common Neotropical species: Osteocephalus oophagus, an arboreal frog that periodically feeds eggs to its tadpoles; Dendrobates tinctorius, a tadpole-transporting poison frog with cannibalistic tadpoles; and Allobates femoralis, a terrestrial tadpole-transporting poison frog with omnivorous tadpoles. We found that D. tinctorius occupies pools across the chemical and vertical gradient, whereas A. femoralis and O. oophagus appear to have narrower niches that are restricted primarily by pool height, water capacity, alkalinity, and salinity. Dendrobates tinctorius tadpoles are particularly flexible, and can survive in a wide range of chemical, physical, and biological conditions, whereas O. oophagus seems to prefer small, clear pools and A. femoralis occupies medium-sized pools with abundant leaf litter and low salinity. Together, these results show the possible niche partitioning of phytotelmata among frogs, and provide insight into stressors and resilience of phytotelm breeders.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.